Toyota Mirai hydrogen car announced

Toyota president Akio Toyoda has just announced the official name for the company’s long-in-development hydrogen-powered car and it’s appropriately titled Mirai – the Japanese term for "future".

In a video released to coincide with today’s official launch of the new hydrogen-fuelled, Corolla-size four-door sedan, Mr Toyoda enthused that the car is available from December 2014 in Japan and will be followed in 2015 by other markets including the UK, then by the greater New York and Boston areas of the USA in 2016.

"Today, we are at a turning point in automotive history," he said of the 100kW vehicle. "A turning point where people will embrace a new, environmentally-friendly car that is a pleasure to drive.

"A turning point where a four-door sedan can travel 300 miles [480km] on a single tank of hydrogen, can be refuelled in under five minutes and emit only water vapour."

The major hurdle to the widespread introduction of hydrogen vehicles is the refuelling infrastructure, something that Toyota is working to remedy in some markets, including the USA.

Toyota is working in collaboration with Air Liquide to establish 12 state-of-the-art hydrogen stations catering for the New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island regions in the US. This follows the company’s support for hydrogen infrastructure in California announced in May this year, in which Toyota is making a $7.3 million loan to FirstElement to help operate and maintain 19 hydrogen stations across the state.

Mr Toyoda said the fuel cell powering the Mirai "creates enough electricity to power a house for about a week” while pointing out that hydrogen can be made from “virtually anything, even garbage."

He said the Mirai had passed "extensive" crash tests and survived "millions of miles on the test track and 10 years of testing on public roads in freezing cold and scorching heat during its development."

According to Toyota North America CEO Jim Lentz, "Toyota’s vision of a hydrogen society is not just about building a great car, but ensuring accessible, reliable and convenient refuelling for our customers. I am happy to announce that this vision will expand beyond the borders of California and give customers the opportunity to join the fuel cell movement."

The Mirai will be followed by other fuel cell powered Toyotas in the next 10 years, according to from the company's Torrance California-(USA) based National Manager for Advanced Technology Vehicles, Craig Scott. His team is working on two new fuel cell vehicles on top of the Mirai, including a mid to large-size SUV that is targeting a fuel consumption of around 3.6L/100km.

Toyota claims a range of around 480km for the FCV. The FCV carries 5kg of compressed gaseous hydrogen in two carbon-fibre reinforced cylinders. Refueling takes up to five minutes — comparable to a petrol-powered car.

Toyota Australia has already made it clear the Mirai/FCV is not on the company’s Australian schedule and will not be until the "development of an appropriate hydrogen-refuelling infrastructure" said the company in a statement today.

Toyota Australia's product communications manager, Steve Coughlan previously told motoring.com.au that "We're excited by the technology, but there are no plans to offer an H-FCV (Toyota's acronym for FHEVs) for sale in Australia at this time."